Astrophysicists have discovered a black hole that for millions of years has been blasting vast particle beams in opposite directions across the sky. And has recently swiveled to point its one of these jets directly at us. Is this an intergalactic death ray of an alien civilization that has suddenly noticed us? Absolutely not, and there’s no danger at all. But it’s a pretty cool phenomenon anyway, and something we’ve never seen before.
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This past January, researchers uncovered that Black taxpayers are three to five times as likely to be audited as everyone else. One likely reason for this is that the IRS disproportionately audits lower-income earners who claim a tax benefit called the earned income tax credit. And this, says law professor Dorothy Brown, is just one example of the many ways that race is woven through our tax system, its history, and its enforcement.
Dorothy discovered the hidden relationship between race and the tax system sort of by accident, when she was helping her parents with their tax return. The amount they paid seemed too high. Eventually, her curiosity about that observation spawned a whole area of study.
This episode is a collaboration with NPR's Code Switch podcast. Host Gene Demby spoke to Dorothy Brown about how race and taxes play out in marriage, housing, and student debt.
This episode was produced by James Sneed, with help from Olivia Chilkoti. It was edited by Dalia Mortada and Courtney Stein, and engineered by James Willets & Brian Jarboe.
Voters in nearly 100 counties — mostly rural — can vote at any polling site in their county. The sponsor, without offering evidence, said the practice was not secure despite years of successful elections in Texas with the system.
BuzzFeed News started in 2012 and grew to have more than 100 journalists across the world. Moving forward, BuzzFeed will concentrate news efforts in HuffPost, the company said.
(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)
The monster-sized, stainless steel, uncrewed spacecraft cleared the launch tower but failed to separate from its booster, spinning in the air before succumbing to a blast of flames.
The Houston mayor made his remarks ahead of court-ordered mediation between the city and local restaurant group. A temporary injunction hearing is scheduled for April 26 to determine whether Pappas must continue preparing to vacate Hobby Airport after the city awarded a lucrative concessions contract to a competitor.
A letter sent to the University says that after taxes, a lecturer teaching a full-time course load of lower division classes in the Fall and Spring is paid under $19,956 for the academic year.
A variation of the popular Little Free Library concept, the forthcoming installation in the Heights was designed to resemble a prison cell and feature books that have been banned by public schools in Texas.
The author of a bill to raise the minimum age to buy a semiautomatic gun said he would have voted “no” to a similar bill last session. The shooting in Uvalde changed his mind.
Fox News has agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, averting a trial in a case that exposed how the top-rated network chased viewers by promoting lies about the 2020 presidential election. What do you think?
Editor’s note: This article is also published in English on Glasstire. Find that here.
Traducción de Yolanda Fauvet y Paulina H. Marroquín.
Nota del editor: Este artículo se publicó originalmente en inglés en Glasstire el 5 de marzo del 2023.
En enero comencé a escuchar rumores en el Norte de Texas sobre una exposición en San Antonio que pasa revista a los artistas latinxs que están trabajando a lo largo del estado. Había despertado mi interés, pero pospuse investigar los detalles pues estaba haciendo los preparativos para un viaje de una semana al Sur de Texas por parte de Glasstire. En cuanto llegué a Laredo pude ver que la emoción por Soy de Tejas: A Statewide Survey of Latinx Art [Soy de Tejas: Un panorama del arte latinx en todo el estado] estaba en ebullición. A medida que avanzaba por el valle del río Bravo hacia Corpus Christi y Rockport, era claro que la muestra estaba impactando y uniendo significativamente a los artistas latinxs. Salí del Sur de Texas con un nuevo entendimiento de la región y de los artistas y trabajadores del arte que llaman a esta área su hogar. También me fui con la noción de que la exposición que vendría a San Antonio sería quizás el panorama más importante de los artistas latinxs de nuestro estado en la historia reciente.
Ansiosa de ver la exposición en persona, fui al Centro de Artes el fin de semana de su inauguración. Estaba abrumada por la amplitud de la exposición, que incluye artistas que están trabajando con una variedad de técnicas y que son de todas las regiones remotas del estado. Me llamó la atención que una exposición tan amplia que representa la diversidad del arte y los artistas latinxs sea inusual en Texas, donde, de acuerdo con la encuesta comunitaria estadounidense de la Oficina del Censo de Estados Unidos realizada recientemente, la población hispana/latina es del 40.2%. Cuando la representación es limitada, es fácil para los espectadores hacer generalizaciones amplias sobre tópicos, temas y estilos del arte latinx. Por lo tanto, se vuelve igual de fácil para la gente encasillar a los artistas y lo que están tratando de decir. Soy de Tejas destruye esa narrativa, demostrando que los artistas latinxs no son un monolito y no se les puede encasillar.
Vista de la instalación de las obras de Patrick McGrath Muñiz expuestas en “Soy de Tejas” en el Centro de Artes, 2023
El artista Patrick McGrath Muñiz, que vive en New Territory (un vecindario suburbano al suroeste de Houston) señaló que: “Es una muestra sólida que abraza la diversidad en muchos estilos, técnicas y formatos divergentes. Las narrativas eran muy similares en el sentido de que todos compartíamos historias de contextos similares y existía esta sensación de lucha y búsqueda de ‘sí mismo’ y de significado interior dentro del contexto de la migración y los destinos transitorios”.
Vista de la instalación de obras de Tina Medina en exhibición en “Soy de Tejas” en el Centro de Artes, 2023
Un aspecto igualmente importante de la muestra es ver trabajos conocidos en contextos nuevos. Al entrar a la exposición, me encontré con piezas sobre el trabajo y la familia de los artistas radicados en Dallas Tina Medina y Christian Cruz, junto a obras de Raul de Lara, que actualmente vive en la ciudad de Nueva York, y Arely Morales, radicada en Nacogdoches. Ver las obras de Medina y Cruz conversando con las de otros artistas desconocidos que abordan temas similares, pero trabajan con técnicas diferentes, trajo una nueva dimensión a sus piezas.
Las piezas de técnica mixta de Medina, que incorporan fotografías familiares, hablan sobre una historia generacional del trabajo, pero en conversación con Mi Apá de Morales, un retrato monumental de su padre saliendo hacia el trabajo, la narrativa se extiende hasta el presente. La mano de obra latinx ha sido parte de la infraestructura de Texas durante generaciones y continúa siendo la columna vertebral del estado. Este no era un hecho previamente desconocido, pero el emparejamiento de estas obras de arte subraya esta narrativa y proporciona una nueva lente a través de la cual se explora el arte de Medina. Me imagino que, con las obras de otros artistas de todo el estado, los visitantes de diversas regiones de Texas tendrán una experiencia similar.
Arely Morales, “Mi Apá”, 2018, óleo sobre tela.
Vick Quezada, “Uprooting the Archaeological” [Desarraigando lo arqueológico], 2021, escultura, cerámica, arnés de mecate, tierra, Opuntia Cacanapa.
Vick Quezada, que nació en El Paso y vive actualmente en el oeste de Massachusetts, remarcó su sorpresa al ver a tantos artistas “trabajando con rasquache, arte de ensamblaje y objetos encontrados”. Junto a Quezada, los artistas de esta exposición que trabajan este estilo incluyen a Raul de Lara, Josué Ramírez, Cande Aguilar, Bella Maria Varela, Gil Rocha, José Villalobos, Angel Cabrales y Ruben Luna. Aunque el rasquachismo a menudo se asocia con artistas que trabajan cerca de la frontera entre México y Estados Unidos, Soy de Tejas ilustra cómo los artistas en el valle del río Bravo y más allá continúan utilizando este estilo.
Vista de la instalación de obras de Raul de Lara en exhibición en “Soy de Tejas” en el Centro de Artes, 2023.
Vista de la instalación de obras de Gil Rocha en exhibición en “Soy de Tejas” en el Centro de Artes, 2023.
Rigoberto Luna, el curador de la muestra, admitió que inicialmente no había considerado dar el mismo peso a las distintas regiones de Texas, pero a medida que planeaba la exposición en los últimos años, se hizo evidente que un acercamiento considerado y a nivel estatal era necesario si la muestra iba a ser un panorama genuino de artistas latinxs. Luna se inspiró en Phantom Sightings (Apariciones fantasmales), una exposición exhaustiva de arte chicano cocurada por Rita Gonzalez, Howard N. Fox y Chon A. Noriega que viajó por Estados Unidos del 2008 al 2010. Llegó al Museo Alameda en San Antonio, que previamente se encontraba en el edificio que ahora es hogar del Centro de Artes.
Luna dijo: “La idea de esta muestra es algo que he pensado y discutido con artistas durante años. Hemos hablado tanto de eso porque ha sido un sueño imposible en su mayor parte. Aunque curar en Presa House [la galería de San Antonio que Luna dirige junto a Jenelle Esparza] ha sido increíblemente gratificante, la oportunidad de reunir una colección más extensa de artistas que trabajan a una escala de museos fue un pensamiento emocionante. Nadie nos iba a ofrecer esta oportunidad, por eso cuando surge la ocasión de proponer una exposición en un espacio centrado en la experiencia latina en Estados Unidos es un riesgo que vale la pena tomar”.
Cuando Luna presentó su propuesta curatorial para la exposición en el 2018, imaginó que la muestra podría tener hasta 30 artistas. En el 2019 se le notificó que su propuesta había sido aceptada y comenzó a planear la exposición en el 2020. Durante el proceso de planificación amasó una lista de artistas potenciales que contenía más de 200 nombres.
Luna me dijo: “Siempre hago listas de todo, así que tengo listas de artistas por distintas razones, pero tenía cuatro años desde que me aprobaron hacer esta muestra y antes de eso ya tenía compilada una lista de artistas, así que llegar a 200 fue fácil. Estos 40 en particular fueron reducidos para encajar, pero tengo otros proyectos que me gustaría hacer y mi próxima exposición en Mexic-Arte, Artistas Latinxs Emergentes 27 [ELA 27, por sus siglas en inglés, que es la muestra anual del museo de obras de artistas latinxs radicados en Texas], está saliendo de la misma reserva de nombres con nuevos resultados”.
Vista de la instalación de obras de Christian Cruz en exhibición en “Soy de Tejas” en el Centro de Artes, 2023.
Uno de los nombres que encabezaron su lista para Soy de Tejas fue Christian Cruz. Luna vio su instalación Pink Collar // Children’sLinen [Collar rosa // Ropa de cama de niños] en el Nasher Sculpture Center en Dallas y le pareció fascinante. Confesó que se sentía nervioso de acercarse a la artista para discutir su inclusión en la muestra, pero una vez que ella aceptó, le fue más fácil acercarse a otros. Luna conocía a la mayor parte de los 40 artistas en la exposición al principio de su planificación, pero algunos de los artistas emergentes más jóvenes fueron hallazgos inesperados.
Vista de la instalación de las obras de Christopher Nájera Estrada en exhibición en “Soy de Tejas” en el Centro de Artes, 2023.
Cuando Luna y su socia Jenelle Esparza visitaron Fort Worth el otoño pasado, fueron a ver distintas galerías que estuvieron abiertas durante la Fall Gallery Night de la Fort Worth Art Dealers Association. Aquella noche en la Fort Worth Biennal, celebrada en el museo Arts Fort Worth, Luna vio el arte de Christopher Nájera Estrada en persona por primera vez. Aunque había visto el trabajo de Nájera virtualmente, verlo presencialmente consolidó su decisión de incluir a este artista en la muestra.
Aunque Nájera es uno de los artistas emergentes incluidos, no es el más joven. La edad de los artistas de la exposición va de los 27 a los 52 años, que es otra forma en la que la exposición muestra el campo artístico de Texas. A pesar de que no pude asistir a la inauguración, pregunté a algunos de los artistas sobre esa experiencia.
Cruz explicó: “Se sintió como una muestra nacional. ¿Conoces esa sensación cuando ves una muestra en un museo grande de una ciudad importante como Los Ángeles o Nueva York o el Basel en Miami? Así se sintió. Y efectivamente, me encontré con mi amiga que vive en Chicago y estaba de visita con su pareja. Otras veces me encontraba con alguien a quién admiraba y comenzaba a decirle lo agradecida que estaba porque habían preparado el terreno. Y todos fueron tan amables y humildes y halagaron mi performance en la planta baja. Cuando no estaba abriendo mi corazón con los mayores, ¡los más jóvenes (de veintitantos, yo estoy en mis 30) estaban abriendo su corazón conmigo! Me daban las gracias y me decían que significa mucho para ellos tener mi apoyo en cosas pequeñas como compartir publicaciones o tomar fotos de su obra. Y cómo los he inspirado porque yo era una artista activa y tenía una familia amorosa (mi hija de 4 años y mi esposo también vinieron)”.
Vista de la instalación de obras de Josué Ramírez en exhibición en “Soy de Tejas” en el Centro de Artes, 2023.
Muchos de los artistas que asistieron a la inauguración hicieron eco de estos mismos sentimientos. Josué Ramírez, que radica en el valle del río Bravo, dijo: “Fue una noche arrolladora, una gran recepción y bien valió el viaje. [Conocí] a tantas personas increíbles y reconecté con otras, pero tan sólo la inmensa belleza reunida en el espacio era inspiradora. Me fui renovado como creativo y como parte de una comunidad fregona de artífices y chingones”.
Si bien Luna identificó y expuso un despliegue de artistas talentosos, cada uno merecedor de su propio reflector, el poder de Soy de Tejas reside en la comunidad que ha formado. Esta exposición hace conexiones a través de generaciones, disciplinas y regiones, y une a artistas latinxs celebrando sus diferencias y similitudes de una manera poco común en la escena artística de Texas. Para los espectadores, esta exposición es un momento de aprendizaje, una oportunidad para expandir su pensamiento sobre qué es el arte latinx y quiénes son los actores clave en nuestro estado. Para los artistas, esta experiencia establece un nuevo estándar, una nueva expectativa de lo que es posible, y actúa como una guía rápida de quiénes tienen al lado. Es una oportunidad para construir conexiones, forjar relaciones y plantar las semillas que darán forma al futuro del arte de Texas. Aunque los artistas individuales en ocasiones pueden sentirse aislados en los espacios tradicionalmente blancos del mundo del arte, Rigoberto Luna ha unido a una comunidad que había estado aguardando este momento.
For more than a decade, Netflix has been known primarily as a streaming-video service. But the original version of Netflix was a much slower form of video-on-demand: red envelopes stuffed with physical DVDs, delivered via the postal service.
Netflix announced yesterday that it's finally ending the discs-in-the-mail version of Netflix on September 29, 2023, just over 26 years after the company was founded. DVD returns will be accepted until October 27.
"After an incredible 25 year run, we've made the difficult decision to wind down at the end of September," reads a Netflix FAQ page explaining the decision. "Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members, but as the DVD business continues to shrink, that's going to become increasingly difficult. Making 2023 our Final Season allows us to maintain our quality of service through the last day and go out on a high note."
Try out my quantum mechanics course (and many others on math and science) on Brilliant using the link https://brilliant.org/sabine. You can get started for free, and the first 200 will get 20% off the annual premium subscription.
Today we’ll talk about artificial intelligence that rediscovered Kepler’s laws, solar flares in the laboratory, nano-surgery with tiny magnets, a candidate for a strange star, what the new JUICE spacecraft will look for, how much air pollution is avoided by nuclear power, a software that creates 3d models from 2d drawings, an estimate for how much rare earth metals the energy transition will need, and of course the telephone will ring.
00:00 Intro 00:35 AI Rediscovers Natural Laws 02:50 Solar Flares in the Lab 04:30 Nanosurgery with Magnets 06:05 A Strange Star? 09:23 The JUICE Mission Launched! 10:58 Rare Earth Metals for the Energy Transition 13:02 3D Objects from 2D Sketches 14:01 How Much Air Pollution Would Phasing Out Nuclear Cause? 15:55 Learn Science With Brilliant
In addition to the Dominion case against Fox News, more than a dozen similar cases related to lies spread about the 2020 election are slowly making their way through the legal system.
In a leaked video that's spreading on social media, the head of a furniture giant tells her staff to focus on being better employees instead of worrying about their own financial futures.
Good morning. Warmth and humidity has returned to the region, and we will see a calm day in the 80s today before rain and the possibility of storms enters the forecast later Thursday through Friday. This will, in turn, be followed by pleasant conditions on Saturday and most of Sunday before the return of more rain chances. Note that, in honor of the Taylor Swift concerts this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Houston, I’ve changed the day names accordingly. If you don’t like that, well, Shake it Off.
Wednesday
Skies will be partly sunny today, with high temperatures in the low- to mid-80s. Most of the region will remain rain-free, but the western half of the region has a (very) slight chance of seeing some sprinkles this afternoon. For most of us it will just be a mix of sunshine and clouds, with at-times gusty southerly winds. Low temperatures tonight will only drop to around 70 degrees with mostly cloudy skies.
The relative humidity forecast for Thursday morning tells you what you need to know. (Weather Bell)
Thursday
Temperatures and humidity on Thursday will be similar to Wednesday, but skies will be mostly cloudy. However, beginning during the afternoon hours, we’re likely to see some showers develop along a boundary north of Houston. Put another way, expect the possibility of scattered showers or thunderstorms north of Interstate 10. By late Thursday evening into Friday morning, the chance of showers and thunderstorms will become more widespread.
You Need To Calm Down
The best chance for heavy rain this week is likely to come overnight Thursday into Friday morning. We’re going to have to refine this forecast as we get closer, but the hail and damaging winds are possible into Friday morning ahead of a cold front that will arrive later in the day. In terms of accumulations, I think most of the area will see 0.5 to 1.5 inches of rain from Thursday evening through Friday afternoon.
NOAA storm outlook for Friday. I don’t believe this will be a concern heading into Friday evening, however. (NOAA)
So what does this mean for the Taylor Swift concert? At this time I think rain chances will be winding down during the afternoon or evening hours, so the best chance of storms should be over. However if you’re getting to NRG Stadium several hours before the show starts, it will be something to monitor. After the show I would not have any concerns. However, winds will be be breezy, out of the north, gusting up to 30 mph. Hold on to your hats! Lows Friday night will drop into the upper 50s.
The Best Day
Saturday is going to be a fine, fine springtime day. Look for highs in the low- to mid-70s with mostly sunny skies. Those winds from Friday night will be starting to wind down, so we’ll only need to concern ourselves with gusts of 15 mph or so. Lows on Saturday night will depend on how far you live from the coast, but I think most of the area will drop into the 50s.
All You Had To Do Was Stay
Alas, the cold front is not going to stay on Sunday. Pretty quickly, we’re going to see the return of the onshore flow, and this will allow clouds to develop on Sunday. Highs will be in the low 70s. Rain chances may start to return as quickly as Sunday afternoon or evening, which may be a concern if you’re heading to the third and final Swift concert in Houston. Some models are bringing a healthy chance of showers back into the forecast for Sunday night, which is a potential concern for weather after the show. We’ll try to get a more finely tuned forecast for you in the next day or two.
Next week
Taylor’s gone, but the weather goes on and on. Houston is likely to see a warming trend, with at least a decent chance of showers through Tuesday or Wednesday, after which a weak front may arrive to bring sunnier skies for awhile. After that the crystal ball starts to get cloudy …
This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…
1. Telling recruiters I wouldn’t move to a state that discriminates
I’m currently job searching, trying to relocate from a mid-sized city in a purple state to somewhere like Chicago or DC, and one of the major reasons is because of the worsening political climate here (for context, I’m a gay person of color in a pretty conservative field). Lately, I’ve been receiving messages on LinkedIn from recruiters for large, national firms regarding positions in places like Miami or Dallas. Is there a professional way to say I’m definitely not interested in those cities due to the increased hostility and discrimination in those states, but that I’m open to opportunities in other cities in blue states? I don’t want to come across as very political (at work, I scrupulously avoid political talk) or burn any bridges at these companies since I would be interested in offers in the right place. I also think companies ought to know that these policies will hurt their business, even though I know saying anything won’t do anything to make things better.
Would you be comfortable saying, “As a gay person of color, that state isn’t safe for me to move to, but I’d be interested in similar opportunities in states with a different political climate”? Or just, “Florida’s not on the table for me because of what’s happening there legislatively (or because it’s stripping away so many protections for residents), but I’d be interested in opportunities in states without those issues”?
The first version has the benefit of personalizing the impact, while the second version has the benefit of suggesting this is an issue that concerns candidates regardless of whether they’re in the groups being targeted. I think either one conveys what you want to convey in a calm, straightforward way.
2. AirTag etiquette at work
I have a terrible habit of losing my car keys, which has been made worse by a toddler that’s fascinated with finding/hiding them. So my spouse bought me an AirTag and keychain holder for it. This has worked great because my phone now tracks the keys and it even beeps to help me find them.
However I’m less likely to be the only one in my office section now and with a range of 33 feet, I’m concerned someone in another cube or a training is going to see the safety message that pops up if you’re around an AirTag not registered to you. It’s designed to pop up as a safety feature in case someone is using one to track you … and I know that statistically in a place this large someone is likely to have cause to be concerned about stalking.
Do I need to do an all-staff email that I have this? Mention it before I give a on site training to a new group? Am I overthinking it? I don’t want to stress anyone out but I’m not sure where tracker at work etiquette is since these became popular just in the last few years.
As long as the owner (you) is still near the AirTag, that message shouldn’t pop up for anyone else. It’s designed to pop up when the owner isn’t around but the AirTag is still there.
So it could be an issue if you leave your keys at your desk while you’re somewhere else for a very extended period of time (I can’t tell the exact period of time from Apple’s documentation, but it appears to be longer than an hour; it used to be 8-24 hours and they announced last year that they were shortening it; I can’t find what they shortened it to) but otherwise it should be a non-issue.
3. Can you be fired for breaking a policy that everyone breaks?
Here’s something I was thinking about in regards to my last job. There were rules clearly stated in the employee handbook and contract as policy, such as not drinking on the job or doing extra work outside of the organization, that didn’t really ring true to the actual day to day operation of the company and the office.
We weren’t Mad Men drinking, but one of my jobs in that place was to go out and buy drinks for people to enjoy in the last hours of the day on Fridays, while they were still technically on the clock. Also, we were in a creative industry, and a lot of people were working on passion projects or freelance work in their own time. The scale of those projects wouldn’t be comparable to that of the company’s — but went against the letter of the policy.
Would it be possible for a company to use this as a “gotcha” and discipline you for breaching the policy, despite it being part of the culture? Possibly to get someone out of the company for one reason or another? Might be paranoid thinking — it didn’t happen — but was curious about the practicalities. This is UK, by the way.
I can’t speak to the UK at all, but in the U.S., they would run into legal problems if they used that as a pretext for firing or disciplining you when the real reason was something illegal (like if the real reason they fired you was because you were pregnant). In the U.S. firing or disciplining someone for a made-up reason isn’t illegal in itself — they can claim whatever BS reason they want, as long as the real reason isn’t something that is specifically against the law (like discrimination).
So if they fired you because you were pregnant (which is illegal) but claimed it was because you violated their drinking policy, you and your lawyer would be able to show that was BS, since they let other people drink on the job without penalty (and in fact actively encouraged it), which then opens the door to arguing that the real reason was pregnancy discrimination. On the other hand, if they weren’t using it to cover up something illegal — if they just fired you because a client didn’t like you, for example, and cited the policy as their cover story — that wouldn’t violate the law (although it would probably make it easier for you to collect unemployment benefits, which is a whole different thing).
Basically, employers can lie, but if the lie is in service of an illegal act (like to cover up discrimination), the illegal act is what would break the law, not the lie itself. The lie might make the illegal act easier to prove (“everyone did X and only I got fired for it”).
4. I don’t know how to respond to my company’s automated endorsement requests
My organization has an automated endorsement system. If someone who applies for a job notes in their application that they know you, you get the option to indicate whether you endorse them — yes or no — and nothing else. Responses are confidential.
I encountered this for the first time this week when I got one for someone I went to college with over a decade ago. We’re not in touch but we have a lot of friends in common and each other’s contact info, so I was surprised he put down my name but didn’t reach out to me directly.
This person is well qualified for the job he’s applied to, but when I knew him he had a somewhat challenging personality. As such, I’m inclined not to respond and stick out my neck, but I think, if he had reached out, I would have endorsed him.
What’s your read on this system as a whole? Are you as put off by the straight thumbs-up / thumbs-down option as I am?
I’m put off by it too. References should be nuanced, not a yes/no situation. Sometimes they can be an obvious yes or an obvious no, but more often than not it should depend on the details of the specific job the person is applying for, what skills are most important, and what weaknesses are unimportant — which are all things you might not have any insight into when your company asks you to render a quick verdict. I can think of people I’ve worked with who were amazing at job X but who I absolutely wouldn’t recommend for job Y (for example, someone who’s great at building relationships and fundraising but would struggle with a job that required high degrees of organization and attention to detail).
It seems like what they’re really asking is, “Do you want to give us a red light on this person for any reason?” — which will get at really big problems (difficult to work with, embezzled money, pooped in people’s lunch bags) but doesn’t allow for more nuanced input on fit.
5. Weekends during business travel
I have an amazing opportunity to travel to Japan for work. My question is about travel reimbursement norms. I will be there for three weeks. My business will mostly be conducted on weekdays — Monday through Friday. If I do not have business (dinners, meetings, etc.), is it the norm to have a weekend off? If I take a weekend off, do I still put in for lodging and per diem for those days?
Yep, unless you’re told otherwise, assume you’ll have weekends off. It’s definitely the norm to be reimbursed for lodging on the weekends, and usually food as well. (It’s different if you were choosing to extend the trip through the weekend for vacation when your company otherwise would have had you fly back earlier — in that case you’d typically cover your own expenses — but assuming you’re expected to resume work there on Monday, these are all still business expenses because you need to remain there for work.)
WICHITA, KS—Touting the best and brightest residents who live within the mid-sized city’s borders, local magazine Wichita Monthly published a 30-under-30 list Wednesday that was all just people with normal careers. The multipage spread, which featured several headshots of average people, included lengthy biographies…
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh pitched a plan Tuesday to increase corporate taxes based on the size of the gap between worker and CEO pay — but the legislation may run afoul of House of Commons rules on who can bring forward tax measures.
Singer and rapper Aaron Carter accidentally drowned in his bathtub as a result of sedatives he'd taken and gas used in spray cleaners he had inhaled, a coroner's report said Tuesday.
A former biology professor at West Texas A&M University was sentenced to six months in federal prison for smuggling more than $14,000 worth of skulls, skeletons, and taxidermy mounts into the United States, according to CBS News Austin. The loot included parts and bodies of the greater naked-tailed armadillo, caracal, vervet monkey, and Eurasian otter—endangered or threatened species whose trade is prohibited by an international treaty and by federal law.
Austin
Drug Wagner for the Texas Observer
Just before the Legislature returned to the pink dome for its 2023 session, a Texas radio reporter at KASE 101 rounded up some of the weirdest laws already on the state books. In Texarkana, it’s illegal to ride a horse at night without a tail light. (Unclear if it has to actually be on the tail.) And, believe it or not, no statute requires a windshield in Texas, but windshield wipers are mandatory.
Fort Worth
Drug Wagner for the Texas Observer
A Texas pilot taking delivery of a new F-35B fighter jet ended up in a slow-motion crash-landing when something went wrong during its first test flight at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, DC News Now reported. Fortunately, the pilot was able to eject and no one was injured. No word on whether the jet came with a money-back guarantee.
Houston
Drug Wagner for the Texas Observer
A grand jury no-billed a man who’d been arrested for throwing cans of White Claw hard seltzer at U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) saying there was no probable cause to charge the man accused of aggravated assault. Cruz was hit in the chest and neck, but not seriously injured, according to the Houston Chronicle. The cans were unopened, and the defendant said he’d just tried to toss Cruz a drink.
Fox News has struck a deal averting a trial in the blockbuster defamation suit filed by the election-tech company Dominion Voting Systems over spurious claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential race.
The DVD service, which still delivers films and TV shows in the red-and-white envelopes that once served as Netflix's emblem, plans to mail its final discs on Sept. 29.
We received a security vulnerability report asking for a certificate of appreciation.
Here’s how the story unfolds: The finder posted a screen shot on Twitter demonstrating a bug, and they @-mentioned the Windows Developer Twitter account. The Windows Developer account replied by apologizing for the inconvenience and asking them to submit the issue through the Feedback Hub app, so it will get reported to the engineering team.
The finder then submitted a security vulnerability report saying, “I reported a bug on Twitter, and I got a response from the relevant team. Can I have a certificate of appreciation for filing a bug?”
Answering the immediate question: No, there is no certificate of appreciation for filing a bug. The happy feeling of accomplishment is its own certificate.¹
But I have some notes.
The finder didn’t get a response from the relevant team, as they claimed. They @-mentioned the Windows Developer team. That team supports software developers on Windows. But this was not a software developer issue; this was an end-user issue. Their response was a polite version of “Sir, this is a Wendy’s.” But they did recommend the correct way to report the bug, which is to use the Feedback Hub app. When you submit an issue with the Feedback Hub app, it collects additional diagnostic information related to the category of issue you are reporting, so that the engineering team can investigate.² It also creates an entry in the database so the team can keep track of it. (Twitter posts are not a good defect tracking system.)
Furthermore, I don’t see any evidence that the finder followed the instructions and submitted a report via the Feedback Hub app. I couldn’t find a matching bug from that time frame. I guess they considered the reply from the Windows Developer account to be confirmation that the issue was received by the correct team and has been submitted for investigation.
So not only is the finder asking for an nonexistent certificate of appreciation, they didn’t even do the thing that would have merited a certificate of appreciation, had one existed.
As for submitting a security vulnerability report, the lack of a certificate of appreciation is not a security vulnerability, so it’s not clear why they’re contacting the Security Response Center. “Sir, this is another Wendy’s.”
¹ After you submit the issue in the Feedback Hub app, you get an acknowledgement screen that has a picture of the Windows Community Champions team holding a thank-you sign. You could screen shot that and print it out as your certificate of appreciation, I guess. But the finder doesn’t appear to have gotten that far, so they never saw this “certificate opportunity”.
² Sometimes, users select the wrong category, like reporting a “Taskbar not responding” issue under the “Bluetooth” category,³ and the Taskbar team gets a bug report with a lot of Bluetooth logs in it. These bugs are frustrating for the team to investigate, since they don’t get the logs they want. They have to do their investigation entirely through telemetry received from the reporting system. This gives an overview of the situation but typically lacks the necessary fine details to identify the source of the problem.
³ A common occurrence is filing an issue like “After the latest update, my Taskbar is not responding” under the “Setup and Update” category, and the Taskbar team gets a bug report with a lot of Setup and Update logs in it. To be fair, this is understandable from the customer’s point of view: The last interesting thing they did was update the system, so in their mind, this is an update issue. I’m not sure what we can do to reduce this type of misunderstanding.
TALLAHASSEE, FL—Saying he was happy to finally bury the hatchet with the major corporation after months of difficult dialogue, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he had ended his feud with Disney after being given a guest role on The Mandalorian. “I couldn’t be more excited to let bygones be bygones and announce…
After 25 years, Netflix's original business is shutting down. The company has revealed that it will "wind down" DVD rentals (that is. DVD.com), with its last movie discs mailing on September 29th. Simply put, the shrinking demand for physical rentals is making it "increasingly difficult" to offer the quality of service the company wants.
Netflix shipped its first disc (Beetlejuice, if you're curious) in 1998. It has since mailed over 5.2 billion movies in its signature envelopes (nearly all of them before 2019) to more than 40 million customers. You likely know the story after that. The company began streaming on-demand video in 2007, and that business grew quickly enough that it became Netflix's most popular offering by 2009. After a premature attempt to spin off the mailed rentals as Qwikster in 2011, Netflix moved them to DVD.com in 2016. By that point, the company was well into producing original streaming shows and had stopped mailing DVDs on Saturdays.
There's also a financial incentive to drop disc rentals. While Netflix is recovering from a bleak 2022, its profits in the first quarter were still worse than they were a year ago. Subscriber growth was relatively modest, too, at 1.7 million new users. A decision to axe the DVD-by-mail unit could help Netflix trim costs, even if the savings are relatively small. The disc market has been on a sharp and steady decline for years, according to VideoScan/MediaPlayNews data — sales alone dropped 19 percent from 2021 to 2022.
It's nonetheless a sad moment for home video fans. Netflix played a major role in shaking up the movie rental business. Where retailers like Blockbuster dominated in the 1990s and early 2000s, Netflix helped people stay at home. Blockbuster and other rivals hopped into the market years later but fought to gain traction. While retail rentals are still available through Redbox kiosks and similar options, it's safe to say Netflix changed expectations for good.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-will-shut-down-its-dvd-rental-business-in-september-195213827.html?src=rss
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